Carolina Caroline

by Mike McGranaghan

Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner are the dream team you never knew you needed until now. She’s a favorite in the horror community, whose 2026 output already includes Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and Over Your Dead Body. He’s also become a horror regular, with roles in Strange Darling, Smile, and Scream 5. The two stars are paired in Carolina Caroline, a sizzling, sexy crime drama directed by Snack Shack’s Adam Carter Rehmeier.

Oliver (Gallner) is a wandering criminal making his way through the South. He enters a convenience store and scams the guy behind the counter out of a few bucks. Store employee Caroline (Weaving) goes outside to confront him. They’re immediately attracted to each other. She wants to know how he pulls off the scams; he’s eager to tell her. Together, they begin a bank robbing spree while making their way to South Carolina, where Caroline hopes to be reunited with the mother (Kyra Sedgwick) who abandoned her as a child.

Carolina Caroline is certainly not the first movie about young criminals in love. Bonnie and Clyde, Badlands, and Natural Born Killers all did it famously. There are certain things that always take place in these stories, and they take place here, too. Writer Tom Dean’s screenplay doesn’t reinvent the wheel. What it does do is elevate the romance above the robberies. The bank jobs are suspenseful, but the true focus is on the relationship between the characters. Caroline lives life wondering what else is out there. Oliver is the person who makes her believe she should find out.

This approach gives the actors a chance to shine. Weaving is heartbreaking as Caroline, powerfully suggesting a sense of longing for a life she never got to have without her mother. She has intense chemistry with Gallner, who gives Oliver sincere charm. Yes, he’s a criminal, albeit one whose feelings toward his partner are genuine. The best scenes in the film show the two stars together, navigating various types of emotional territory. Those emotions grow thicker as the characters feel law enforcement closing in on them. It’s not going to jail they fear, it’s being apart. Caroline asks, “How do we know if we’re good people pretending to be bad, or bad people pretending to be good?” That question perfectly sums up their connection.

As a bonus, Sedgwick shows up partway through and blows the roof off the place with a fiery turn as Caroline’s mom. On the directorial end, Rehmeier provides a rural ambiance that benefits the story. The small towns and long stretches of highway come alive, adding texture to the Caroline/Oliver romance.

Because it’s hewing to a well-worn “lovers on the run” template, parts of Carolina Caroline are predictable. I wish it had shaken things up a little bit here and there. That aside, the film’s commanding performances and romantic spirit are more than reason enough to see it. We need Weaving and Gallner in more movies together.